Perched on the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is among the most coastal of all Texas cities with its mild winters and warm, humid summers dominated by the maritime influence. It remained a sleepy backwater until the first oil and gas boom, which, combined with the advent of air conditioning opened this region up for development. This brought the Johnson Space Center to Houston with all its employment opportunities as well as a thriving oil and gas industry with numerous refineries. But Houston remains a major port city for the South and its older neighborhoods of vintage homes and its international population gives it a unique worldly character.

Two freeways in concentric circles around downtown connect a number of outlying suburbs for an easy commute downtown. Pasadena was once a center of ranching but today the industrial nature of the Houston area has made this an affordable family community. Here backyard living is a necessity but residents may prove more conservative on just how much they spend on their pools and patios.

The vast planned community of The Woodlands lies well north of Houston, offering contemporary housing for a growing affluent population. Here contractors and designers must be familiar with the codes of this community in order to create outdoor living areas in conformance. With beautiful homes featuring the latest interior improvements, outdoor spaces here are upscale and filled with outdoor dining and entertaining amenities. Not far away is Spring, a large cotton and sugar cane farming area that has gradually become yet another bedroom community of Houston. Lower land prices and its increased distance from the city makes this an ideal location for hobby farms and ranchettes. Barker also shares a similar story as its community gradually became assimilated into the larger Houston area.

Southwest of Houston is Sugar Land, a city that grew out of the remnants of the Imperial Sugar Company. Today the sugar is gone and in its place are massive residential subdivisions that transformed this town into an affluent bedroom community for Houston.

The proximity to the Gulf and its beaches provides a balmy climate for Houston where heat and humidity demand well designed outdoor living spaces. Local designers and contractors are well aware of how to create landscapes that conform to the climate and make outdoor living more comfortable in the depths of summer. But as the mild winter comes around, a fire pit and protected spaces become popular extensions of interior spaces provided they are designed well and built to blend into architecture.